Is the audience for popular music created by the music industry?

As consumers we are in control of choosing the music that we want to listen to and purchase - record companies cannot force you into buying something that you do not want to listen to. They can over publicise the song by ensuring it’s played regularly whether on the television or radio. Therefore it could be argued that an artists’ success is linked to the music industry’s intervention, in creating an audience for popular music. We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the music industry’s main aim is to make money. If a particular type of music proves successful, then record companies will release similar music in the hope that it will have the same degree of commercial success. Adorno recognised that ‘standardisation extends from the most general features to the most specific ones, with repetition being the key to success’. For example Bob Dylan initially recorded ‘All Along The Watchtower’ with mediocre reviews, but when it was re-released by Jimi Hendrix the song took on an entirely new lease of life, becoming a cult hit.